Revelation
by ExodusHero
Summary: A drabble about Carth and Alara Vex and their budding romance, shattered by the revelation on the Leviathan. Set to "This Is What It Takes" by Shawn Mendes. I plan to start at the beginning at some point and write through their relationship and build it. This is just the inspiration that struck me.


It was impossible to say when it happened. They had been through so much, most of it hating each other. Yet things had somehow gotten twisted and changed around. Standing here now, on the Leviathan, pressed against a wall and about to step into battle, the tension mixed with the adrenaline of battle was different. He was different, protecting her yet again. She couldn't put her finger on what it was, exactly, but as time seemed to slow around them, her mind wandered back to the beginning.

 _I watch your troubled eyes as you rest And I fall in love with every breath_

A small apartment on Taris. Heated arguments and bated breath. Alcohol spilled on an old jacket for spite. More battles than she could count. Mistrust. Nightmares and flashes of fragmented memories. Sleepless nights taking turns watching the other thrash and murmur. Aches unable to be soothed. He was dark, broody, angry, with a guilt on his shoulders to weigh down ten planets. Yet something within him still shone as bright as the beams used to destroy the civilization they barely escaped, Bastila, and Canderous in tow. Not quite friends, but willing allies.

 _You keep on telling me I'm wasting time But to call it wasting time, oh that's a crime_

Dantooine. A new beginning for one of them. A chance at greatness, to find her place in the world. Leaving him on the outside. More arguments, biting words and a growing distance. She tried to learn more, to understand. He blocked her out, resisting and fighting it. A waste of time, he said. But she was stubborn. Walls slowly came chipping away. Story after story. A wife and son left in the ashes of a barren world, a need for revenge and sense of justice from the one he once served... Quiet moments walking the line of tense friendship and something more.

 _'Cause if you don't understand yet Then I'll never let you forget That you don't have to do this on your own_

Tattooine. A revelation that would change their entire mission. Dustil, alive and joined with the Sith. Father against son, so it seemed, but there was hope. There was life. There was still a father's love. She wasn't sure it was the best course of action, to seek the boy out right away, but it was consuming him. It meant a lot to him, to have a piece of his family back. She couldn't take that from him. Would never want to take that happiness and hope from him. The map would wait, Dustil and Carth could not.

 _Then I'll never let you forget That you don't have to do this on your own I'll be your shoulder to lean on_

Korriban. Sand and dust. She hated sand and dust. And so much darkness it was suffocating. But they pressed on. There was a mission of grave importance. Dustil was angry. Misled and full of pain, leftover from a scared little boy looking for his father and watching his mother die. There was a blip of hope, and more pain than anyone deserved from both men. Finally, redemption, and peace of mind. The tension and weight that seemed to leave his body made it all worth it. The Star Map was only an added bonus.

 _I'll be your right when you feel wrong So come on take my hand we're moving on_

Tattooine. Conversations shrouded with anger from the past. Strategy. Talking about giving it all up for one chance to kill the man who betrayed him the most. Terror that pierced her heart in a way it shouldn't have, and an anger that he would even consider it. He had to see the sense in the madness! Didn't he know she cared, beneath the insults and the arguments and all the new rules, she cared?

 _Cause underneath the darkness There's a light that is trying so hard to be seen And I know this, cause I've noticed A little bit shining through the seams_

Kashyyk. A serious talk she would never forget. Every moment, every word, every feature, was memorized. The lines of his face, the nervousness in his voice and deep brown eyes, the way his hand rubbed the growing beard on his chin, every movement his lips made, burned into her mind. Concern voiced for their fearless leader in a gentle way she wasn't used to from the man. A promise to protect her, to save her from anything, even herself. A moment in time that he would lay his cards mostly on the table, and told her what he truly thought. He had been searching for a reason to live past revenge, and she was it.

 _And if this is what it takes, Then let me be the one to bear the pain_

The Leviathan. They had been captured by the man who had ruined Carth's life and brought to be held for Lord Malak. Saul was ruthless in his treatment of them. At first, at the expense of Carth, for every question Alara refused to answer, for every moment she remained loyal to the Jedi. It was short lived. Instead, his wrath turned to the woman. She was tortured beyond the point of consciousness, and then some. She ached, her body felt burned, but he was okay. Saul's wrath had gone to her as punishment of her defiance, and had spared the one she had promised herself she would protect.

The present.

The duo stepped from their spot, the doors to the bridge sliding open. Saul Karath stood in the middle of the room, smugness radiating from the older man. It was disgusting to her, and only fueled the rage radiating from Carth. This moment had been so long coming. He needed this to move on with his life, and she had no intention to stand in his way. A bloody battle, leaving the Sith dead, and Carth standing over his former mentor. One last whispered confession that would change everything once again and derail all that she thought they had built.

The truth.

Their escape was met with resistance from Malak himself. Bastila was captured after sacrificing herself to allow her friends to flee. A revelation that took her breath away and flooded her mind with memories. Nightmares explained, her abilities and record explained. All of it explained, and everything she had worked so hard to build shattered with no assurance it could ever be rebuilt. The truth had set her mind free, and had ruined her all at once.

 _Oh and if this is what it takes, I'll break down these walls, these walls that are in our way If this is what it takes_

The truth.

She was Revan.


End file.
